An Interracial Kiss – on Another Planet

Warning: This episode contains a racial slur. In 1968 America, a country where interracial marriage had been legal nationwide for only a matter of months, the idea of romance between the races was still a controversial proposition. That made it all the more shocking when, in November of that year, William Shatner, a white man, kissed Nichelle Nichols, a black woman on the sci-fi show “Star Trek.” In this episode, Phillip discusses why the racial climate of 1968 made an interracial kiss seem so far-fetched that it caused a stir even when it took place on a show set centuries in the future with historian Matthew Delmont of Arizona State University. Delmont’s connection to the topic is more than academic – his parents, one white, one black, met in 1968.

Read more in this accompanying article from Matthew Delmont: TV’s first interracial kiss launched a lifelong career in activism^[1]

Also: RSS Feed^[2]

Music on this episode: “And never come back” by Soft and Furious, found on FreeMusicArchive.org, licensed under CC0 1^[3][4]

Archival Audio: Star Trek_Kirk & Uhura kiss^[5]

Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1/8) Movie CLIP - Pleased to Meet You (1967) HD^[6]

Supreme Court Clips - Loving v. Virginia - interracial marriage^[7]

Malcolm X in Speaks in Solidarity With the School Boycotts in NYC (1964)^[8]

References

1. ^{^} TV’s first interracial kiss launched a lifelong career in activism (theconversation.com)
2. ^{^} RSS Feed (heatandlightpod.com)
3. ^{^} FreeMusicArchive.org (freemusicarchive.org)
4. ^{^} CC0 1 (creativecommons.org)
5. ^{^} Star Trek_Kirk & Uhura kiss (www.youtube.com)
6. ^{^} Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1/8) Movie CLIP - Pleased to Meet You (1967) HD (www.youtube.com)
7. ^{^} Supreme Court Clips - Loving v. Virginia - interracial marriage (www.youtube.com)
8. ^{^} Malcolm X in Speaks in Solidarity With the School Boycotts in NYC (1964) (www.youtube.com)